Annika Weiss
Annika Weiss is a scholar and a member to a lowborn house in Rayleen, House Weiss. Before her studies, Annika sailed the seas of Silandria with her father where she met many peoples during her travels. Hearing stories of other lands, she has a passion for adventure and exploration. History Instilled with her mother’s passion for adventure and her father’s adoration for the sea, Annika Weiss was born in the port city of Rayleen. Her father was a shipping Captain that served in the Silandrian Navy shortly before Annika’s birth. During his years as a steward, the coastline cities of Silandria were constantly raided by pirate vessels which set up several blockades between the nation and the Sept Isles. Her father was the only naval combatant brave enough to disguise a ship as a merchant one and smuggle through the blockade soldiers. He led a successful coup against the pirates that threatened the coast and earned himself fame and glory as well as a promotion to a shipping Captain. Her mother was a peasant from the outskirts of Rayleen with little money to her name but a passion for adventure which drove her. When she came of age, she joined the Silandrian Navy as a servant where she hoped to see the world. She did, right alongside Annika’s father. Over the course of a few years, exploring the world and going on adventures together, the two eventually fell in love and married. When Annika’s father saved enough money to buy a ship of his own, he retired from the Navy and the family settled down in Rayleen where they brought Annika into the world. Annika lacked the formal education most noble children had growing up because she was always at sea with her father. Though what she lacked in formality she made up as her father’s second in command. Under his tutoring, she learned the geography of important lands, how to scout and navigate at sea, and how to map land. When she was home, she learned as much as she could under the guide of a tutor, though her mind was always on the sea which strained her relationship with her teacher. Her parents worried little about it; they wanted the same free and adventurous upbringing they had for their daughter and gave it to her. When Annika was eighteen years old, she lost her father at sea due to a shipwreck. No one survived the wreck to tell what happened, but the tragedy was confirmed due the findings of the ship’s remnants. Annika’s mother went into shock, and while Annika was hurt, she had to remain strong to protect the family’s investments. She learned the business of trade and managing merchants by managing her family’s assets. When her mother came out of her shock, she married a second time to a man Annika considered to be weak, which is why she hid the majority of the revenue the family made to protect her family legacy from him. When she saved enough money, she enrolled herself into classes where she furthered the teachings of her father. Now that she has graduated, she spends her time traveling.